India spinner Amit Mishra retires from cricket as Champions Trophy winner and IPL legend

Devansh Poddar

India spinner Amit Mishra retires from cricket as Champions Trophy winner and IPL legend image

India's veteran leg-spinner and one of the IPL's legends, Amit Mishra, has retired from professional cricket after 25 long years. 

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Mishra has been one of those bowlers who were often known for his sheer determination and utmost class with the ball. His ability to spin the ball both ways and deliver consistent performances made him stand out from the rest of the leg-spinners throughout his career. 

Amit Mishra announces retirement from cricket including IPL

From delivering match-winning spells for India to becoming an IPL legend, Mishra has come a long way in his cricketing journey. He made his first-class debut way back in the 2000-01 season, and went on to play for India in 2003

Bowling leg-spin and consistently delivering as a spinner is one of the hardest jobs in cricket, especially in the shortest format. That is a role Mishra mastered the art and produced some iconic performances throughout his career.

"These 25 years of my life in cricket have been nothing short of memorable. I am deeply grateful to the BCCI, the administration, the Haryana cricket association, the support staff, my colleagues, and to my family members who were with me all this while. I would like to thank the fans whose love and support, whenever and wherever I played, made the journey memorable. Cricket has given me countless memories and invaluable learnings, and each moment on the ground has been a memory I’ll treasure for life," said Mishra.

The legendary leg-spinner represented India in a total of 22 Tests, 36 ODIs, and 10 T20Is. He ended with a total of 156 international wickets, while also adding close to 700 runs to his name, batting down the order.  Additionally, he was also a part of India's title-winning campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.

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Apart from international cricket, Mishra, in his long IPL career, featured in 162 matches, picking up 174 wickets at an average of 23 and a very impressive economy of just over 7. 

He additionally holds the record for the most IPL hat-tricks (three) in the league's history. He achieved the feat in three different seasons and for three different teams.

His first came in 2008 for the Delhi Daredevils, which was followed by hat-tricks in 2011 and 2013 for Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively. 

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Devansh Poddar

Devansh Poddar is a content producer for The Sporting News' India edition.